


60 Seconds

by noalinnea



Category: 24 (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-08-16
Packaged: 2018-04-15 00:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4586850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noalinnea/pseuds/noalinnea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>60 seconds of contact with a previous life...</p>
            </blockquote>





	60 Seconds

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 2010

Resigned he stared after the red cloud of dust that the pick-up truck was whirling up in it's track as it drove off with the other drillers.

No work for him.

Again.  
  
Slowly he made his way over to his car, absent-mindedly nodding to some of the other men that the American industry today didn't have any use for either. He climbed onto the driver's seat and started the engine.

He had come to hate those days without employment. They left him with too much time and energy to spare for thoughts about his lost life. The reason why he had chosen this job- apart from the remote location in the middle of the desert- was its physicalness. He had sought exhaustion, what he wanted was to collapse on his bed at the end of the day and be asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

No regrets, no worries, no circling thoughts. No 'what ifs'.  
  
When he pulled into the driveway Diane's car was still in its usual spot, producing an involuntary smile on his face. The only good thing about those days filled with restlessness was that he returned in time to have coffee with Diane before she left for work. He found that he had come to enjoy those mornings when Derek already was on his way to school. She would smile at him when he knocked at her door and they would sit in the kitchen and just talk. In astonishment he had realised one of those mornings when he saw her off at her car that he finally seemed to be able to relax in another person's presence.  
  
Afterwards, back in the solitude of his room it would sometimes feel dangerously like a relationship. He never had imagined that Frank Flynn ever would take up any relationship, it seemed like betraying Jack Bauer. And as often as he told himself that Jack Bauer was dead and that he would have to accept this new identity his heart protested vehemently and he knew that he would never be able to forget and move on. Because in contrast to Frank Flynn Jack Bauer had a daughter.

 _Frank Flynn-_ how he hated that name. Made him feel like a bloody cartoon caracter.

 _The dazzling adventures of Frank Flynn_.

Adventures indeed. The adventure of earning enough to pay the rent for example.

He was lucky that Diane had readily accepted his offer to mend things around the house and the grounds whenever he was not able to pay the full rent.  
  
He stared at the blank walls surrounding him. When he had first moved in he had been contemplating to buy a poster, it seemed like the thing a guy like Frank Flynn would do. But after half an hour of staring at Iron Maiden and WWE poster he abandoned the idea, quite satisfied, actually. And least one thing Flynn and Bauer had in common. They weren't the poster type of guy.  
  
He blinked through the curtain of tears that thoughts about Kim always brought with them. Wearily he ran a hand over his face and stepped to the window, looking out over the dusty landscape, his heart heavy with longing. What hurt most was that she was suffering because of him, again, was suffering unnecessarily and that there wasn't any way for him to lessen her pain, was that he had had to hurt her that much so that she would be safe. Safety _or_ happiness, the days when his little girl had had both had been over the day Teri had been taken from them.

A buzz made him jump. His cell phone. _His_ cell phone, not Flynn's. The last physical reminder that Flynn and Bauer did not share the same past. He all but raced over to the dresser.  
  
60 seconds.  
60 seconds of his life.  
60 seconds of being himself. How he loved Chloe for checking up on him.  
  
With trembling hands he picked up the phone, glancing at his watch.  
  
_60 seconds._  
  
"Hello?"

The line was silent for a moment but before he could panic and end the call there was a quiet reply on the other end.

"Hi." It didn't need another syllable for him to recognize the voice, that voice that he had thought he would never hear again. His heart skipped a beat. And then immediately a second one when a thought struck him.

"Oh my god, did anything happen to- " He bit his tongue. No names. Never any names.

"No, calm down. Everybody is fine."

He exhaled shakily.

"How are you?" Tony's voice was soft and immediately there were fresh tears in his eyes. He swallowed against the lump that was forming in his throat.  
  
_50 seconds._  
  
"I'm fine", he said, his voice hoarse. And to make his answer sound more plausible he added: "I'm better than I have been in a long time." Which actually was true. At least he wasn't on the run anymore.  
"I have found a more permanent place to stay."  
  
"I'm glad", Tony said quietly. "Do you need anything?"  
  
"Thanks, I'll manage. I have a job." Most of the days.

He took a deep breath before asking the one question that he always needed an answer to:

"How is she?"  
  
Back in his old life Tony missed a beat, undoubtedly trying to find the right words.  
  
_40 seconds._  
  
He closed his eyes against the tears, his heart beating to his throat.  
  
"Better. I think she's starting to adjust."  
  
He swallowed. Starting to. It had been more than a year.  
  
"I see her a lot."  
  
"Thank you so much." His voice was barely a whisper. He cleared his throat. "How are things at home?"  
  
_30 seconds._  
  
The answer came just a split second too quickly: "We're fine."

There was a pause and he could hear Tony take a deep breath: "I am thinking so much about you."  
  
Jack dug his fingernails into his thigh and closed his eyes against the pain that shot through his chest, pictures flashing past of Tony smiling at him through sleepy lashes over a cup of coffee, of his relaxed features when he had fallen asleep in his arms, of his brow furrowing in concentration right before he climaxed; he could practically feel his stubble scraping over his cheek, his lips on his own, his hands roaming over his body.

Trying to bring his swirling thoughts to a halt he was fighting for composure for a long moment. With the last remains of his self restraint he said:

"Please don't go there. Please. It- I- it's going to hurt so much if you do."  
  
_20 seconds._  
  
He could hear Tony swallow and could picture him nod while a part of him desperately longed for him to ignore his plea and tell him that he missed him, tell him that he lay awake at night, too.  
  
The two syllables that followed were enough to tell him that a life time away Tony was struggling to keep the tears at bay, too.

"Okay."

There was a  pause before Tony asked again:

"Do you really have everything you need?"  
  
In the mirror he saw his reflection shrug. I need to see my daughter and I need to wake up in your arms.

"I'll let you know if I need anything."  
  
Tony sighed.

"Okay."  
  
He glanced at his watch.  
  
_10 seconds._  
  
Only. He tried to keep his voice level: "It was good to hear you voice."  
  
"Same here." Tony didn't manage any better to hide his emotions than he did.  
  
"Thanks for calling."  
  
"Please be careful." He could hear the tears now.  
  
"I will be. Be happy, love."  
  
Not waiting for a reply he ended the call but was not quick enough, half a broken sob reached his ear before the line went dead. The phone clattered onto the floor when his hands dropped to his sides and tears clouded his vision.  
  
60 seconds of the illusion that Jack Bauer was still alive.


End file.
